Totally totalled!

Yup, my van is a total loss. No more "Mommy Mobile". Well, at least not that one. The adjuster called me yesterday to give me the good/bad news (I still haven't decided which it is). Soooo, I guess I'll be getting a new car after all! I'm stuck between feeling happy about getting a new car, and feeling anxious about taking on a new car payment. It's not that we can't afford it... I just didn't WANT to, KWIM? I was hoping to at least get a couple more years out of that van, payment free, at least. Then we would have been half-way through paying for David's car and a couple more promotions richer. But you gotta deal with what life throws at you, right? So onward and upward! At least this way, I have 4 years to pay for my new car before Rhya starts college. Right? Isn't that a bright side?

I'm just ready to be DONE with the whole thing already... I want OUT of this little toy they have the nerve to call a car (the Neon - and no offense to any Neon owners out there... but they suck!!). I feel like I'm riding in a sardine can, and the stupid seat belts in the back are positioned so tightly that I can't fit Noah's booster seat in between the shoulder strap and the buckle. His seat literally sits on the darn buckle, and I have to shift the whole seat over to get to it whenever I want to buckle him in. And talk about slow... this thing has NO power! Come to think of it, it would be the perfect car for Rhya. I wouldn't have to worry about her trying to pass anyone on the road, because this thing just won't do it.

And forgive me all of you Road Runner fans out there... I like watching him whoop up on the coyote as much as the next person, but I don't like my car sounding like a cartoon bird when I honk the horn. What kind of message does that send to the idiot who just pulled out in front of me? I sound like a pimply faced 12 year old boy whose voice hasn't changed yet! Like I'm giving a half-hearted "stop." while throwing a limp-wristed slap at them! When I blow the horn, I want it to sound like there's a freakin' train barreling down on their butts! Make them sorry they pulled out in front of me! When I was in college driving my VW Rabbit diesel, that was probably the last time I remember really wanting a "meep-meep" kind of horn.

Not that I had any luck in the horn department when we went looking at cars this past weekend. Every one of the new cars I sat in had a wimpy sounding horn. Or a "wussy horn" as Noah and Mia called it. I never thought I would appreciate the old Dodge truck that my Dad had me drive when I was in high school so much. It growled when you turned the key, and it sounded like a Mack truck when you laid on the horn. Never mind that it had rust spots and leaked oil all over the parking lot... that was power!! The cool kids were driving BMW's and Benz's, but you'd better believe they got out of the way if they heard that truck crank up! Ok, so maybe that's because they were afraid the brakes would go out or that I would roll back into them on the hill, but hey... they still got out of the way. ;)

So tomorrow is the day... the loss department is supposed to call me and tell me what they think my van is worth. I've been preparing for this for a week now... I have all the paperwork from KBB, NADA, and various car dealerships both in our area and nationally... I'm ready to haggle! I'm hoping I won't have to, but I'm not naive enough to leave myself unprepared.

So anyway, if you made it this far (then you're really bored, aren't you?!?) thanks for hanging in there, and wish me luck!!

Jen